2021-12-13 GC Agenda - Item 8 -Attachment 1 - Housing Needs Assessment

3.4          Ethnic Background
Noosa Shire’s population is relatively ethnically uniform, with high levels of Australian born, English
only speaking households.
The 2016 census data suggests 71.7% of Noosa’s population was born in Australia, being similar to
the proportion of 71.1% for the State. Some 7,863 residents were born overseas in English speaking
countries and 3,383 were born overseas in non-English speaking countries.
Further, 88.5% of the Noosa population speaks only English which is slightly higher than a figure of
81.2% for the State.
In 2016, 782 census respondents identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, making 1.5%
of the population. Proportionally Indigenous persons are more likely to reside in Noosa Hinterland or
Tewantin SA2s.


3.5          Income
The 2016 census showed that residents of Noosa Shire had on average lower income levels than
other coastal parts of South East Queensland and the State as a whole. The following table provides
some averages for comparison.
Table 6 Median income comparisons Census 2016


           Area               Median total weekly        Median total weekly          Median total weekly
                                family income            household income              personal income

 Noosa Shire LGA                             $1,403                        $1,184                       $595

 Sunshine Coast                              $1,491                        $1,275                       $615
 Regional Council LGA

 Moreton Bay Regional                        $1,638                        $1,413                       $652
 Council LGA

 Redland City LGA                            $1,815                        $1,521                       $686

 Gold Coast City LGA                         $1,657                        $1,404                       $666

 Queensland State                            $1,661                        $1,402                       $660



In 2016 the median total personal income in Noosa Shire was $30,940 per year, compared to
$34,320 for the State and around $35,548 for South East Queensland.
29.1% of residents over 15 had a total personal income of less than $20,800 per year. A further
37.4% had a total personal income of between $20,800 and $51,999. In part this can be attributed
to higher numbers of retirees on fixed incomes.
The 2016 census data defines “low-income families” as families, in occupied private dwellings14,
whose family income was less than $650 per week or less than $33,800 per year. Noosa Shire had


14 Private dwellings are self-contained dwelling intended for long-term residential use. They must include

cooking and bathing facilities as building fixtures. Examples include houses, flats, semi-detached houses,
townhouses, apartments and self-contained retirement village units. They also includes 'Other dwellings' such
as dwellings attached to non-residential buildings and occupied caravans, cabins, houseboats, improvised
dwellings and tents, even though these may not ordinarily be intended for long term residential use or be self-
contained.


Noosa Housing Needs Assessment 2021                                                                   Page 32